A history of Microsoft Windows

It’s been 20 years since Windows 95 set off Microsoft’s conquest of the PC market. Here’s the blow-by-blow...

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Berlin - It’s been 20 years since Windows 95 set off Microsoft’s conquest of the PC market.

Here’s a Windows timeline of developments...

1975

Childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft.

1980

Microsoft contracts with IBM to develop an operating system for IBM’s planned personal computers. Microsoft buys and tweaks an existing command-line system into MS-DOS – and gets IBM to agree that Microsoft may sell it to other manufacturers as well.

1985

Microsoft releases the first, user-unfriendly Windows, a 16-bit graphical interface based on MS-DOS.

1987

Microsoft introduces Windows 2. Apple sues Microsoft for copyright infringement over the graphical interface in a complicated case that takes five years to resolve.

1990

Windows 3.0 gets a completely new interface – and introduces office workers to its version of Solitaire.

1992

Version 3.11 is the first truly user-friendly Windows.

1993

Microsoft introduces Windows NT, a business-focused 32-bit workstation and server operating system.

1995

Windows 95 launches, along with Microsoft’s built-in web browser Internet Explorer. A radically improved user experience and an unprecedented marketing effort help propel Microsoft to near-complete market dominance.

1998

Windows 98 comes to market as an update of Windows 95.

2000

Windows ME launches. It’s the final operating system based on MS-DOS and is notoriously bug-prone.

2001

Microsoft introduces Windows XP, its longest-lived operating system. XP is based on the Windows NT architecture.

2007

Windows Vista sells well, but users complain new security protocols make it complicated to use.

2009

Windows 7 attempts to address the weaknesses of Vista, with a user-friendly reboot.

2012

Users pan Windows 8, developed with two different user interfaces: a conventional Windows desktop for PCs and a touch-friendly tile system for tablets, both absent the unexpectedly popular Start menu.

2013

Just a year later the system is updated to version 8.1, and a Start button is added in response to user complaints.

2015

With Windows 10, Microsoft offers the first unified platform for PCs, tablets and smartphones, with a planned streaming interface for Xbox One game consoles too. But it’s not all about the future: the full Start menu, not seen since 2012, returns.

DPA-ANA